Boys lacrosse: Stevenson comes back to beat Fremd

Fremd attacker Jack Hipchen was having his way with Stevenson's defense Saturday afternoon in Palatine.

Hipchen, who would score 5 goals, hit for four of his team's first five goals and the Vikings led 5-2 with 7:41 left in the first half.

But the offense would dry up for 18:37 as the Patriots would score 9 unanswered goals in Stevenson's 12-10 win over Fremd in a nonconference boys lacrosse game.

"We had to stop Hipchen," said Stevenson coach Tom Hake. "We face guarded him as much as we could after that."

"We got a nice rhythm going with our defense," said Patriots' senior Nathan Spina. "We just started playing better as team and were aware of where (Hipchen) was. We just played straight up defense during that run. It was important that we stayed intense on defense."

Face off specialist Benjamin Niesman gave the Patriots (4-2) extra offensive chances by winning 17of 22 face offs.

"Face offs are so important," said Hake. "He (Niesman) has done a great job for us this year. It's great to have a player like that who can help get those possessions."

Stevenson's Darius Clemons tied the game at five with six minutes left before halftime. Freshman Ryne Hynes (4 goals, 2 assists) put the Patriots ahead for good at 3:30 before the break.

Spina finished off the first half scoring with a goal at the 3:08 mark for a 7-5 halftime lead.

Cole Okmin and Matthew Pappageorge each scored for Stevenson to start the second half. Seth Collins scored back-to-back goals for an 11-5 lead before Jason Haas of Fremd broke the Vikings' scoreless streak with 1:04 left in the quarter.

Hynes, who would score an insurance goal in the fourth quarter, said Stevenson had something to prove after a 1-point loss to Maine South Friday night.

"We came in with a chip on our shoulder," said Hynes. "We had something to prove to ourselves. We knew we really had to work to get this win. During that (9-0) streak we were able to get most of our goals through transition.

"We like to play fast. When we settle into our offense we have a lot of players who are able to score for us. Today we were able to get them into a one-on-one situation. I have really put in a lot of work during the offseason to make myself a better player."

"Hynes makes some freshman mistakes," said Hake. "But, he plays hard. Ryne is a player we look to because of his effort and energy."

The Vikings (3-4) tried to rally in the fourth quarter but came up short.

Goals by Noah Petrikas, Hipchen and two by Luke Feerick cut the lead to 12-10 with 2:19 but Fremd could get no closer.

"It was case of too little too late," said Fremd coach Nick Mamula." This game was about face offs. They had most of them during that run in getting the ball. We got away from our plan of getting the ball from the face offs. We were on our heels a lot. Our kids battled back though, and fought hard to close the gap."